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'Dr Evil': Wolverhampton modification artist admits GBH

What did you all think of this story? A case of the law over reaching i think

A body modification artist has admitted three counts of grievous bodily harm, by carrying out tongue splitting and ear and nipple removal procedures.Brendan McCarthy, also known as Dr Evil, carried out consensual procedures without using anaesthetic.In his defence, the 50-year-old argued that consent was given but the judge ruled the procedures could not be compared to tattoos and piercings.He will be sentenced on 21 March at Wolverhampton Crown Court.McCarthy, of Bushbury, Wolverhampton, ran a modification emporium in Princess Alley before he was charged with six counts of wounding in 2017.

The comments made by the judges are ridiculous, as are the charges. Especially considering similar court cases (not body mods) where consent has been given and it was thrown out of court as not relevant.

It's sad that this is now going to go underground with unprofessional/untrained/non-knowledgable people performing these mods or people doing it themselves (artists are already seeing people come in after their own botched attempts).

This is why you now cannot have anything above a normal piercing in the UK. That includes dirty, blunt, nasty metal being rammed through a babies ear in the middle of a shop. Cos you know, that's totally fine.

The comments made by the judges are ridiculous, as are the charges. Especially considering similar court cases (not body mods) where consent has been given and it was thrown out of court as not relevant.

It's sad that this is now going to go underground with unprofessional/untrained/non-knowledgable people performing these mods or people doing it themselves (artists are already seeing people come in after their own botched attempts).

This is why you now cannot have anything above a normal piercing in the UK. That includes dirty, blunt, nasty metal being rammed through a babies ear in the middle of a shop. Cos you know, that's totally fine.

Omg I had this exact thought earlier. I'm trying to get my head around the case but half of it just doesn't make sense to me, other than it sucks!

There are many worse licenced cosmetic surgeons out there who botch ops and that can be seen on many celebrities. Okay....maybe some of his kit was out of date...blah...blah....but surely that is where some additional training/support should be available for artists to carry out the higher level procedures safely. Extreme mods are extreme and if it were me then I would want my artist to carry out the work safely and minimise risks associated with the procedure. Doesn't deserve a trial & sentencing imo. Maybe a small fine for any breaches of clinical protocols with additional training program of clinical standards if practice is to be continued.
A sensible review of laws should be carried out and updated to provide protection for both artist and client who mutually agree to the more extreme procedures before it goes underground and in the hands of potential wrong doers!
At this rate sub-dermal and transdermal implants will be illegal as they are not going to be covered by piercing licences. It's wrong really!

At this rate sub-dermal and transdermal implants will be illegal as they are not going to be covered by piercing licences.

I doubt any mod artist would do them now tbh, they'd be seen as a surgical procedure along with punches etc.

Mod artists are now restricted to using a needle or jewellery only so standard piercings and microdermals only. Nothing else. Unless they want to risk GBH charges.

Regulation is needed considering there are no real laws for piercing in the UK beyond needing to be 16+ to get a genital piercing (yes, some local authorities have by-laws that are often ignored or overlooked). This is not the way to go about it by calling people who want anything more than a needle/gun piercing as mentally ill and in need of psychiatric evaluation.

Sorry I'm going against the trend here, I think GBH is correct in this case. However it is not a "normal" GBH and the feature of there being no complaints by the "victims" should make a difference together with them asking for their modifications. Therefore the sentence should reflect that, taking into account any likelihood of another GBH etc. I doubt if he'll ever do anything again which will put him on the wrong side of the law. So it doesn't have to be a severe sentence at all.

The judge will be applying the law as it stands now. As for the argument for greater regulation in the future, that's not a bad thing IMHO.

Sorry I'm going against the trend here, I think GBH is correct in this case. However it is not a "normal" GBH and the feature of there being no complaints by the "victims" should make a difference together with them asking for their modifications. Therefore the sentence should reflect that, taking into account any likelihood of another GBH etc. I doubt if he'll ever do anything again which will put him on the wrong side of the law. So it doesn't have to be a severe sentence at all.

The judge will be applying the law as it stands now. As for the argument for greater regulation in the future, that's not a bad thing IMHO.

So why pick and choose? Why are piercings ok? Why are tattoos ok? Why can a young adult with no medical training right out of college inject people with fillers? Why can a 16 year old ram a piece of metal through the ear of a 3-month old landing him/her in hospital? What about boxing? BDSM? Why aren't people getting charged with GBH every hour if consent to damage/change another person's body can't exist? Why is it one rule for one and one rule for another?

"Applying the law" should be done in a relative, fair and equal manner. This is not what's happening here.

This seems to be coming down to opinion and what's seen as "normal" by one person and when that results in giving a family man who works tirelessly for charity for no reward or benefit a criminal record then there is something seriously wrong.

There absolutely has to be better regulation of all cosmetic things including modification, semi permanent make up, piercings, non-surgical treatments such as acid peels, needling, fillers etc.

As for Mac he stopped doing any mods the moment a rival contacted the police and he got arrested. No one in the UK is now going to be doing any of these mods, nothing past piercing is seen to be "legal" anymore. This might even start to extend to large gauge piercing past a certain point as no doubt some old judge will wrinkle his nose at that and say whoever asked for it "needs psychiatric evaluation" as well.

This is a joke, an absolute mockery of our legal system and laughs in the face of real victims of GBH.

This is a joke, an absolute mockery of our legal system and laughs in the face of real victims of GBH.

Agreed!
If these procedures were requested and clients were not tied down against their will to have it forced upon them then how can it be GBH?
If a Mod Artist and client proceed with the knowledge that such a procedure is extreme and not without risk then why is that GBH?
Slightly ... but surely tobacco producers and the governments that make money off tobacco sales are inflicting GBH on people aren't they?

Slightly ... but surely tobacco producers and the governments that make money off tobacco sales are inflicting GBH on people aren't they?

I'll shut up now

Another good point though. It's intentional "harm" with consent.

Please don't get me wrong, what Mac did was extreme with the full ear removal and unfortunately I think that's possibly what tipped this over the edge in a way but considering they refer to the tongue split a lot and it's been brought up before then it wasn't the only factor.

Shitty thing is that since this started I've known three cases where mod artists have been asked for help by people who have tried to split their own tongue (badly). Of course, they had to turn them away. This is what happens when you make things illegal rather than regulating them.